PACE President urges dialogue between government, opposition and civil society in Armenia
PACE, Europe
Aug 19 2005
Council of Europe Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) President Rene van
der Linden today completed a two-day visit to Armenia, as part of his
visit to the South-Caucasus from 18-23 August at – as he stressed –
“a crucial time for the country”. He held frank and constructive
discussions with all the relevant actors including representatives of
civil society. The main issues discussed were constitutional reforms.
The President urged dialogue between the government, opposition and
civil society. The constitutional reform was a test case for further
democratic development in Armenia and of its willingness to fulfil
its obligations and commitments to the Council of Europe, he said.
The success of the referendum would depend in particular on the
revision of voters’ lists, media independence and the organisation of
an effective public awareness raising campaign. The President appealed
to government and opposition parties to use the coming days to reach an
agreement on joint amendments, so as to attract the broadest support
for reform. He said that failure of the reform process would have
negative consequences for the country as a whole.
On the issue of Nagorno-Karabakh the President stated his intention
to enhance the possibility for parliamentary diplomacy available to
the countries’ PACE delegations as a complement to the primary means
of bilateral diplomacy and the Minsk Group process. He added that
democratic development in the two countries would create a better
climate for finding a solution.
He urged all political actors to enhance their efforts to ensure good
relations with Armenia’s neighbours.